OBJECTIVEA retrospective analysis of 160 pre-menopausal breast cancer patients was carried out to elucidate the the menstrual outcome in those cases who had undergone adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery, and evaluate the relationship between chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea (CIA) and recurrence of the disease.

METHODS160 pre-menopausal breast cancer patients were collected, 62/159 (39.0%) of them were node positive, 91/158 (57.6%) were ER positive, and 95/155 (61.3%) were PR positive. 111 cases had infiltrative ductal carcinoma, 26 cases had infiltrative lobular carcinoma, and 22 cases with others. In 152 cases data were collected by face-to-face interview and 8 cases by phone conversation. Types and cycles of chemotherapy regimen as well as menstrual abnormalities were recorded before, during, and after chemotherapy completion. Follow up duration was 12-72 months after chemotherapy completion for all patients.

RESULTS107 (66.9%) developed CIA, 24 cases returned to normal menses (22.4%), 83 cases continued CIA during more than 12-month follow up (77.6%). The rate of CIA increased with age (P < 0.01). During the follow up, disease free survival (DFS) rate was 85.9% in CIA group and 79.2% in non-CIA group, with no statistically significant difference. But in hormonal receptor positive patients, DFS was 80.0% in non-CIA and 90.1% in CIA, respectively (P = 0.04), showing a significant difference. Because of the small number of died cases, no analysis of the overall outcome was carried out.

CONCLUSIONAdjuvant chemotherapy causes ovarian function suppression, and may further leading to amenorrhoea. Women who experienced amenorrhoea after chemotherapy had a significantly better disease-free survival (DFS) rate showed by univariate analysis than women who continued normal menstruation. Chemotherapy is insufficient therapy for very young patients who are in high risk with hormone responsive disease, particularly when chemotherapy fails to induce amenorrhea. Further research is needed to evaluate interventional chemotherapy to improve the quality of life in women with early stage breast cancer who experienced ovarian toxicity. The post-chemotherapy menstruation status is a clinically valuable, objective and salient marker for sufficient endocrine effect of chemotherapy in ER/PR-positive premenopausal patients.